Page 1 of Avoiding Temptation
Chapter One
“You all set?”Eddie asks, glancing at the first slide of my presentation projecting on the wall and to my neatly stacked folders and worksheets.
Tonight is my first class at my new job. I’ve been an English teacher since I graduated from university eight years ago, although I’m more used to teenagers than adults, but I didn’t have the time or money to be fussy when I moved to London. I almost snapped Eddie’s hand off when he offered me this position.
He’s the only person I know in this city. I knew it was a risk going to him, but he was my only option. Thankfully, he was still at the same address he gave me years ago, and when he unlocked his front door he welcomed me in like it was only yesterday we’d last seen each other.
“Yeah, I think so.” I shake my arms at my sides, willing my nerves to disappear before my students arrive. I don’t need them figuring out my weakness the moment they walk in the room. The thought of teaching adults terrifies me, even if they’ve made the decision to better themselves. Put me in an entire hall full of teenagers and I wouldn’t bat an eyelid, but adults are a whole other story.
“You’re going to be fine. This’ll be a walk in the park after the spoilt rich kids you’re used to.”
“If you say so.”
The classroom door opens and both Eddie and I look over. It takes a couple of seconds for someone to enter but, when they do, my chin drops a little. I didn’t have any expectations of who my students might be. Eddie explained to me that the classes are usually a total mixed bag of people, but I can say with absolute certainty that I was not expecting someone like him.
His eyes find mine briefly before he looks away to take in the room. With his head down, he walks to the back and takes a seat in the last row. It gives me time to assess him. His eyes are hiding behind thick-rimmed glasses, but it’s his outfit that really catches my attention. His white dress shirt is perfectly pressed, stretched across his wide shoulders and rolled up to the elbows exposing muscular forearms covered in tattoos. The black braces that sit over his shoulders make the corner of my mouth twitch up. Although his demeanor right now doesn’t show it, I’ve no doubt that on a normal day this man is full of confidence.
“Told you, all walks of life in this place.” Eddie’s obvious distaste for the man at the back of the room drips from him, reminding me that although he’s here helping me, he’s still firmly from my old life. “Probably part of his rehabilitation or something.”
Feeling eyes on me, I turn back to look at the guy, who’s now staring right at us. His previous hesitant look seems to have vanished as his eyes drop from mine in favour of my body.
My skin tingles with his attention. I can’t lie, it’s a good feeling after being practically invisible for so long, but this is neither the time nor the place.
After lingering on my leather skirt for a few seconds too long, his eyes find mine once again. The brightness of his blue irises makes my breath catch. Surely they’re not real?
A commotion at the door forces us to break our connection as others enter.
“Time to get to work, Miss Smith.” Eddie winks before lifting his knuckles to my cheek. “No need to look so worried. I couldn’t think of anyone better for the job.”
His eyes bore down into mine and my stomach twists. I assumed Eddie would have a girlfriend by now. He’s a great guy, but it was immediately obvious that he was still living life as a bachelor after he invited me to his flat when I turned up on his doorstep. He’s been an amazing friend, more so than I think he knows, but that’s all there’s ever going to be between us. I’m just not attracted to him like I think he wants me to be. Although he didn’t really fit in my past life, hence why he moved on a few years ago, he still reminds me of everything I hated about it. He still wears the flashy suit with the pretentious pocket square and tie pin. I’ve had enough of all of that shit for a lifetime. If there’s ever going to be another man in my life, I want him to be as different from what I’ve known previously as possible.
“Thank you. You’d better go before you’re late for class.”
He nods before mouthing good luck and stepping away from me, and I feel like I can breathe again. He’s been the perfect gentleman and friend since I arrived, but I fear he might be expecting too much. I’d hate to hurt him after everything he’s done for me.
Just before he walks out of my classroom, he looks back over his shoulder, and my stomach drops at the twinkle in his eye. I’m sure it works on other women—unfortunately for him, I’m not them.
When I look back towards the desks facing me, I see that they’re almost all full. Doing a quick head count, I realise we’re still missing a couple. “We’ll give it another two minutes, and then we’ll get started.”
I spend most of the first lesson outlining what they can expect from the course, the kind of assignments they’re going to have to complete, and which books we’re going to be studying. It’s weird, because although everyone here is much older than I’m used to, I still see the same stereotypical students. At the front are two women who look overly keen to learn—it makes me wonder why they need to re-do this qualification if they’re so enthusiastic. Behind them are a few rows of what I’d class as average students who follow all instructions to a tee, followed by a couple of guys in suits who, although they do what I tell them to, look like they want to be anywhere but here. Then of course, there’shimat the back. The man who, every time I look up, I find staring right at me.
With only ten minutes left, I set them all a quick task to write a poem like the one they’ve been analysing that will help me get to know them.
Everyone puts their heads down and gets to work, aside from him. His eyes follow me as I walk to my desk and pick up the stack of folders. A shiver runs down my spine as his attention holds. He’s the kind of guy I dreamt of running away with when I was a teenager, if I ever had the chance. I wanted the bad boy to rescue me from my life of china tea cups and pearls. It never happened, and, as was inevitable, I’d ended up becoming one of them. If only I’d had the strength to get out sooner.
I drop a folder on everyone’s desk and ask each student if they have any questions or concerns about what we’ve done so far. I can only imagine their heads must be spinning, especially if they haven’t been in education for a while.
Swallowing my trepidation, I step up to his desk and drop a folder.
“How are you doing?” I glance at his still blank page. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
He drops his pen on top of his paper haphazardly, and my fingers twitch to straighten it as he sits back. His eyes crawl up my body until they find mine. The blue is even more striking up close.
“I’m sure there’s plenty you could help me with, Miss Smith.” His eyes flit around my face, and there’s no way he misses the brightening of my cheeks. My temperature begins to increase the longer he stares at me, and I know that I need to walk away—only, my legs don’t seem to want to cooperate.
“So, tell me...will you be our teacher every Thursday night?”
“I would think so, yes. Problem?”
